What does the Tree of Life represent in Kabbalah and what does it mean? The Tree of Life is an archetype of creation similar to other systems that attempt to represent the basic structure of the universe, the common denominators that cannot be reduced. Scientists do this kind of reduction in describing the basic elements upon which all matter is built, and the dna is built upon amino acids. So too, the Tree is built upon ten (some say eleven) principals that are the basic aspects of life.